Editorial

Most disaster-prone counties in Wisconsin

Wisconsin has 866 county-level FEMA disaster declarations across 72 counties. The dominant hazard type is severe storm. Crawford County leads with 22 declarations, followed by Vernon County and Milwaukee County.

This ranking shows every county in Wisconsin ordered by how many times FEMA has issued a disaster declaration affecting it. Counties near coastlines, river systems, or wildfire corridors tend to appear at the top because the same geographic exposure produces recurring events across decades.

Each county links to a full disaster history page with the complete declaration timeline, hazard type breakdown, decade trends, and whatever FEMA spending data is available. For a national view, see the most disaster-prone counties in America page.

Wisconsin ranking

All counties by FEMA declaration count

#CountyDeclarationsTop hazardFirst yearLatest year
1Crawford County22Severe Storm19652020
2Vernon County22Severe Storm19652020
3Milwaukee County21Flood19692025
4Grant County20Severe Storm19652020
5Dane County19Severe Storm19762020
6Richland County19Severe Storm19652020
7La Crosse County18Severe Storm19652020
8Waukesha County18Flood19692025
9Green County17Severe Storm19692020
10Iowa County16Severe Storm19762020
11Racine County16Severe Storm19692020
12Buffalo County15Severe Storm19652020
13Clark County15Flood19732020
14Juneau County15Severe Storm19762020
15Kenosha County15Severe Storm19732020
16Monroe County15Severe Storm19762020
17Rock County15Severe Storm19732020
18Trempealeau County15Severe Storm19652020
19Ashland County14Flood19652020
20Lafayette County14Severe Storm19692020
21Sauk County14Severe Storm19762020
22Dodge County13Severe Storm19742020
23Dunn County13Flood19652020
24Jackson County13Severe Storm19762020
25Jefferson County13Severe Storm19652020
26Ozaukee County13Flood19652020
27Pepin County13Flood19652020
28Pierce County13Flood19652020
29Walworth County13Severe Storm19652020
30Washington County13Severe Storm19762025
31Wood County13Flood19692020
32Adams County12Severe Storm19762020
33Fond du Lac County12Flood19742020
34Iron County12Flood19692020
35Portage County12Severe Storm19732020
36Rusk County12Flood19732020
37Bayfield County11Flood19722020
38Calumet County11Severe Storm19762020
39Chippewa County11Flood19732020
40Columbia County11Severe Storm19762020
41Marathon County11Severe Storm19652020
42Sheboygan County11Flood19732020
43St. Croix County11Severe Storm19652020
44Barron County10Biological19652020
45Burnett County10Severe Storm19762020
46Douglas County10Flood19722020
47Outagamie County10Flood19732020
48Polk County10Biological19652020
49Washburn County10Severe Storm19652020
50Waupaca County10Flood19732020
51Waushara County10Severe Storm19732020
52Winnebago County10Severe Storm19742020
53Eau Claire County9Flood19692020
54Green Lake County9Severe Storm19732020
55Lincoln County9Biological19692020
56Marquette County9Severe Storm19732020
57Oneida County9Flood19762020
58Sawyer County9Severe Storm19762020
59Brown County8Severe Storm19732020
60Langlade County8Biological19652020
61Manitowoc County8Biological19732020
62Price County8Biological19762020
63Shawano County8Biological19762020
64Taylor County8Biological19762020
65Forest County7Biological19762020
66Kewaunee County7Biological19732020
67Marinette County7Biological19732020
68Menominee County7Biological19762020
69Door County6Biological19732020
70Florence County6Biological19762020
71Oconto County6Biological19732020
72Vilas County6Biological19762020